This page connects people who need evacuation assistance and shelter for horses during a natural disaster to those who can provide it. Rescues required after events will be referred to local authorities. Solicitations for financial help will be deleted.

If you are in need of or have shelter to offer for horses displaced by natural disaster, please locate the Event for your location on our Wall or on the Events tab to the left and provide the requested information. Thanks!

Although this (see
below) was written for Florida horse owners, anyone in a hurricane-prone state needs to
read this and think about it and make some sort of plan.

Suggestion for
Rescues:

Line up a safe place
to evacuate to now (and it would be good to line up some alternatives just in case).
For Florida, Georgia is a good plan (think race tracks, other places with concrete
barns, etc.). South Carolina & North Carolina have some first-class equestrian
facilities which offered "shelter from the storm" also. South Carolina's
big horse center is Aiken, North Carolina has a big center near Tryon (just over the SC
border in the start of the mountains, a couple of hours south of Asheville)

Line up volunteers
with trucks & trailers who are horse-saavy about handling rescued horses to assist
with a transport convoy. Set aside feed & hay & water in large containers to
be loaded along with the horses, as most evacuation places require you to bring your own
hay & feed.

Take the DART
(Disaster Animal Rescue Team) course to learn what you need to know about handling
disaster scene rescues. I think the HSUS runs it but ASPCA will know about it.
Find out when they will be offering classes in your area, or offer to host such a
class for local horse owners to attend (could be a good way to find new volunteers, new
donors, and new adoptive homes).

In Florida, we have
the Sunshine State Horse Council ( http://www.SSHC.org
) whose website has a listing of "hurricane sanctuaries" usually located in the
center part of the state, and they may have contact info for other sanctuaries in nearby
states. Some of these "sanctuaries" are just private horse owners who
offer free pasture space and even offer you a place to stay on-site to help you stay with
your animals; some even offer to help you care for your animals. The Ocala area
seems to have a lot of such sanctuary offerers. Check SSHC.org for more info (and
consider joining the SSHC as a way to connect with other horse owners as well as support
our state horse lobbying association which helps guide lawmakers in passing good laws and
not passing bad laws which affect horse owners).

Other states have
similar horse councils. Go to the American Horse Council ( http://www.HorseCouncil.org ) to
find out more about your local horse council, or try Googling it. American Horse
Council is our national horse industry lobbyist and we really need to support them also
(joining at the lowest level is a good idea) so they can help protect us on the national
level to help prevent bad laws and help promote good horse laws.

If you decide to
evacuate, do so at least 3 days before the storm is due to hit your area, to avoid getting
caught in heavy traffic on the roads to avoid road colic situations (usually comes from
sitting in heavy traffic for hours not moving).

By all means, read
the following and think about it, and start now to learn what you need to know.
Contact your local County Extension Agent or Humane Society to find out if there is
someone who can come to your place and do a seminar on helping other horse owners and
horse lovers learn the answers to these vitally important questions and what to do in the
event of each scenario.

And don't count on
being in the middle of the state protecting you from hurricanes - as we saw in 2004, more
hurricanes are now crossing inland in areas they don't normally hit (although they are
somewhat weakened before they get here compared to coastal areas).

The time to begin
planning is NOW.

Hold some seminars on
the topic of hurricane preparation and disaster response. It is a great way to get
more free publicity for your rescue, offer a good community service, and help attract new
donors / volunteers / good adoptive homes / other help.

Susan

Micanopy, FL

(PS - I'm still not
active on the lists so please don't respond to me on list and expect a response - I forgot
my Yahoo password and haven't had time to contact Yahoo for help, so I'm not receiving
emails and not able to access the group on-line). The twin grandchildren are doing
great, and so is my daughter - thanks for all the wonderful good wishes and prayers)

Begin forwarded
message:

From: tysonah@

Date: May 18, 2008 7:00:41 AM EDT

Subject: Horse Lovers- Hurricane season starts June 1st
ARE YOU READY

Calling all
Horse Lovers- Hurricane season starts June 1st.
Each year we try to get you to think about getting a hurricane plan for your
animals. No one expected Andrew or Katrina. In Miami 600 horses died.
Most from impalements and fractures. Due to the massive debris flying through the
air, turning horses out can be fatal. Most barns withstood the winds and losts their
roofs. If you can evacuate your horses prior to the storm that is the most ideal
situation. If you cannot evacuate, try to make a plan that will minimize your
horse's chances of getting injured.
Debbie Hoffman has created some scenarios and I have added to them.

Can you address
these problems ? Think about it...and "lets make a plan NOW for our
horses" Remember ...they count on us !!

POST DISASTER
SCENARIOS

SCENARIO #1:

A hurricane or
tornado or even a bad storm with strong winds has come through your area and your barn has
come apart or your fence has blown down due to a tree falling on it. Your horse(s) are no
longer on your property. How will anyone be able to return your horse to you when it
is caught?. Do you have an i.d. tag on your horse, braided into its mane or attached
to its halter? Most walmarts have i.d.
machines and you can make a tag for $5. Tractor Supply carries horse
bands and cattle chalk - you can write your phone number on the band or on the
horse. Does the Sheriff's department have your horse listed in the emergency
livestock book? you can fax your address,
horse(s) sex, color, description, phone numbers, to the sheriff office for such
emergency purposes and it works great in Hernando County.

#2

It is the aftermath
of a hurricane and fences and barns were blown down...Horses are running loose and need to
be collected and transported to safer areas. A first responder comes upon a herd of
horses...They seem to be running in a "Pack". The first responder
notes that the "leader of the pack" is aggressive. That
horse is a Stallion who seems to be protecting the mares and fighting with the
geldings. How do you handle getting the stallion from the herd, in order to be able
to approach and retrieve the loose horses without incident and injury ?

SCENARIO #3:

It is the aftermath
of a tornado. There is a horse barn that is close to a mobile home park which has
been totally destroyed. A first responder comes upon a horse that has a huge
"open gash" on it's rear end. A large portion of flesh on the horse
is totally exposed". Obviously the horse turned its "butt to the
wind" as Mother Nature seemed to take over.

The tin from the
mobile home park that blew away became flying missiles that sliced the meat right off
of the rear of the horse. The horse has a halter on and is able to be caught.

BUT how do you treat
the open wound - it way too massive and it is in an area that cannot be bandaged ?
Do you have emergency medications and bandages on hand?

SCENARIO #4:

Responder finds a
horse that has trampled thru lots of debris in a disaster plagued area. The horse is
limping on the front right to the point that it seems to be immobile and reluctant to
place any weight on that foot. The responder lifts up the foot and finds that the
horse and stepped on a rusty nail. What do you do ?

SCENARIO #5:

Some type of flu or
virus is running rampant thru the community that attacks large animals. The first
signs are that the horse is down and thrashing and seems to be turning its head towards it
stomach...It must be contagious as most large barns seem to be affected.

The second sign that
is noticed is that the horse is not drinking or eating. Nor are they passing manure
or urine. All vets are treating other area barns...what do you do to make it until a
vet can arrive ?

Please make a plan
now. Check with Georgia for their evacuation sites, most race tracks will let you in for free during
hurricanes. They usually have strong cement stalls. But you must plan to leave
a day before the storm hits.

Is
your trailer ready? How are
the bearings, tires, spares? Get your trailer and truck in working order
now. Map out where you will go and have the information in a folder in your
truck. Have copies of your horses identification papers in your trailer also

Do
you have enough medications for emergencies?
Antibiotics, wraps, bute, banamine? Get it now.

I have gotten a
lot of emails and read a lot of emails that last few days of
people offering assistance to help in the event horses needed to
be moved or housed in the event of the recent hurricane, but to
my knowledge there wasn't a place to put that information.

I just put
together a yahoo group as a resource
for equine rescues and
individuals in Texas to get or offer assistance. You guys
from other states might want to follow suit and do the same in
case of a natural disaster in your area. This information will
be available to those in charge of handling disaster relief in
the state of Texas.

For those
wanting to help out in a natural disaster, FEMA requires people
to take an independent study course that is offered on their
website. To my knowledge in Texas you only need the IS-100, but
I have also heard that IS-200 and NIMS-700 should also be taken.
(I believe that LSART (Louisiana State Animal Response Team)is
requiring certificates from all three courses.)